Coffee roasting apparatus



July 4, 1967 H. l.. sMxTH, JR

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 15, 1965 July 4, 1967 H. L.. SMITH, JR

I COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan, l5, 1965 INVENTOR H RACEL. SIW/Th', JR.

July 4, 1967 H. L. SMITH, JR $328,894

COFFEEv ROASTING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 15, 1965 18 Sheets-Sheet 5 E17. 5 Ez- 9.4

INVENTOR HORACE L. SM/Th'/R.

July 4, 1967 H. L. sMn-H, JR v3,328,894

COFFEE RoAsTING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 I I 18 Sheets-Sheet 4 je \A FF7-5 -5 INVENTOR HORACE L. SMITH, JR

July 4, 1967 COFF Original Filed Jan. 1

H. l.. SMITH, .1R 3,328,894

EE ROASTING APPARATUS 1B Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR HORAGELSM/TM JR July 4, 1967 H. l.. SMITH, .1R

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet E Original Filed Jan.

INVENTOR HORACE L.SM/TH,JR

July 4, 1967 H. SMITH, JR

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 SheetS-Sheet 'i Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 July 4, 1967 H. L.. SMITH, JR'

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 SheetS-Shee S Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 INVENTOR vf I IIIIIIIJ l l l I l l I I Ni lllllll July 4' 1967 H. l.. SMITH, JR

A(.Ol'q ROSTING4 APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet J Original Filed Jan. l5,` 1965 INVENTOR 1 HORACE L.. s/v/rH, ./R

Ju1y4. 1967 H. L... SMITH. JR

18 Sheeta-S'neet 20 Uriginal Filed Jan.

Punse GAs Dlspensen S A G T O H FROM COMMERCIAL ROASTING l UNIT LEGE N Dz SLOW VENT LOAD QUICK VENT 8 UNLOAD UNLOAD OR PURGE COOLER SPRAY J MANUAL FLOW ADJUSTMENT (PRESSRIZE) I K NANuAL FLow ADJUSTMENT .(RoAsT) MANUAL FLow ADJUSTMENT '(PuRGr-:l oRlFlcE PLATE DRAIN LABORATORY SAMPLE COFFEE ROASTER lNvNToR Homes L. sM/m, JR.

July 4, 1967 H. L.. SMTTH, 1R 3,328,894

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 18 Sheets-Sheet 11 se U40 '3' S144 'ML-@ril-MZ AUTO L-` A s|94 MAN. TIMED l= j A' START l sToP MT' A' lH-lg T TT VENT swe M DDD sLow VENT GGG QUICK VENT sT P ART MT' A' 'L T2 uNLoAD z Ml' YYVY KK .f5/

COOL 155 'START July 4, 1967 Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 I-I. L. SMITH, .IR 3,328,894

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet 12 P U40` STOP START I "U42 -l- MMT'A PREssURIzE `\SI54 START A. SToP MT T LL MM M' AA START STOP PRESSURE SMG MODULATING A AUToMATIc PSI PRESSURE SWITCH SET To oPEN AT M ALL MANUAL 5o PSI.

MT- TIMED MANUAL T TEMPERATURE coNTRoLLED REAcToR INVENTOR HORACE' .SM/TH/H.

July 4, 1967 H. 1 SMITH, JR

COFFEE ROASTING APPARATUS le Sheets-sham 15 Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 STOP M MANUAL A AUTOMATIC INVENTOR HORACE I. `,vll'/TH, JR.

July 4. 1967 H. L. SMITH, JR 3,328,894

COFFEE ROAST ING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 18 Sheets-Sheet 14 ZBZ scRuaeER COMPRESSOR w L:ma i k28o AccUMuLAToR FUE. REAcToR AIR l 1 MlxTuRE f iF-f5 INVENTOR HORACE L5M/7H, Jl?.

July 4, 1967 H. L. SMITH, JR 3,328,894

COFFEE ROAST ING APPARATUS original Filed Jan. 15, 1965 1e sheets-shea 15 v INVENTOR HORACE L. SIW/Th1 JR July 4, 1967 H. l.. SMITH, JR

COFFEE ROAST I NG APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 15, 1965 18 Sheets-Sheet le INVENTOR HORACE L3M/Tlf, JR.

July 4. 1967 H. L. SMITH, JR

COFFEE ROSTING APPARATUS 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 Original Filed Jan. l5, 1965 July 4, 1967 H. L. SMITH, JR 3,328,894

COFFEE ROASTI NG APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. ll5, 1965 18 SheetS-Sheet 18 308 323 Y il 'J5 y, 2o A r326 cHARslNG 3| o HoPPER FRoM l QGCUMULATOR 346 344 l, a 35o HEATER :4 L 34e l 347 3|2 339 I REAcToR BOOSTER' d328 Accumuv LAToR l 345 3 i 38o 37o 374 358 y i 376 Y" .lfm A l 7| 7s HEAT N ExcHANGER v 356 350 omge 3:4 F cooLER I ESSOR BOOSTER 566 332 372 336 364 368 I TRANSFER 390 COMPRESSOR 362 l)fases f 33|-- FROM 334 AccuMuLAToR INERT GAS DISCHARGE GENERATDR HOPPER 0, 392 INVENTOR 394 HonAcEL-sM/TH, JR

United States Patent 19 Claims. (Cl. 34--57) ABSTRACT oF THE DISCLOSURE Fluid-solids contact reaction vessels, optionally of pressurizable construction, in which a bed of solids to be treated is iiuidized and continuously rotated by an inert or other fluid during the treatment cycle. Closed circulation systems for supplying the iiuid to the reaction vessel together with systems for depressurizing the reaction vessel during and after the treatment cycle without depressurizing the remainder of the uid circulation system and for otherwise maintaining a predetermined pressure in the reaction Vessel during the treatment cycle. Systems for controlling the temperature of the iiuid supplied to the reaction vessel, the ow of the iluid through the vessel, and other parameters. Mechanism for removing evolved volatiles from recirculated iluid, mechanism for unloading treated solids from the reaction vessel, and mechanism for cooling and optionally spraying solids discharged from the vessel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division yof application No. 425,702 iiled Jan. 15, 1965, for Apparatus and Methods.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to novel improved duid-solids 1 contact apparatus.

For the most part, the principles of the present invention will be developed by relating them to the roasting of coffee and the like 2 as this speciiic application is the most important commercially at the present time and as, in another speciiic aspect, this invention relates to novel improved apparatus for roasting coffee and other similar products. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is, in its broader aspects, of far greater utility; and the ensuing discussion of the invention is therefore intended to be illustrative and not limiting with regard to the broader .aspects of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide novel improved apparatus for contacting iluids and solids.

'I'he foregoing and other important objects of this invention are accomplished by utilizing a novel reaction vessel which can be pressurized and in which a bed of the solids to be treated is uidized and continuously rotated3 during the iluid treatment cycle. A number of 1The term fluid is used generically herein to encompass gases, mixtures of gases, and other materials with similar tlow properties.

Other typical applications of the present invention include the roasting of other food products such as cocoa beans and nuts and the manufacture of expanded food products such as putted cereals and popcorn. The present invention may also be used for drying cereal grains or other particulate solids and for effecting a wide variety of chemical reactions commonly carried out in tiuidized beds. In short, the present invention is applicable to virtually all processes involving the Contact of fluids with particulate solids.

3The term iiuidized rotating bed will be employed to de scribe a bed of solids which is fiuidlzed and in which the solids continuously circulate in paths (shown in FIGURE 7) in which the solids move upwardly in the peripheral regions of the reaction vessel, inwardly in the upper part of the bed, downwardly in the inner region of the reaction vessel, and outwardly in the lower part of the bed.

advantages result from iiuidizing and continuously circulating the solids while they are being contacted with the treating iluid as will :become apparent shortly.

Both -iiuidized beds and beds in which there is a continuous movement of the solids have heretofore been employed in apparatus for treating solids with gases and iiuids. Exemplary apparatus employing iiuidized beds are disclosed in U.S. Patents Nos. 2,212,120 issued August 20, 1940, to R. D. Kneale et al. for Method of Roasting Coiee; 2,857,683 issued Oct. 28, 1958, to F. Schytil for Coffee Roaster; and 2,859,116 issued Nov. 4, 1958, to E. Heimbs et al. for Treatment of Coffee and Other Materials. Exemplary of the patents disclosing apparatus in which there is circulation of the solids being treated are U.S. Patents Nos. 2,437,694 issued Mar. 16, 1948, to C. N. Hickman for Method for Blending Powder Grains; 2,689,973 issued Sept. 28, 1954, to L. V. Lee et al. for Method and Apparatus for Contacting Solids With Gases; and 2,786,280 issued Mar. 26, 1957, to P. E. Gishler et al. for Method of Contacting Solid Particles with Fluids and German Patent No. 1,064,789 issued Sept. 3, 1959, to H. Bach for Vorrichtung fur Aromaverbesserung und -Stabilisierung von Rstkaffee.

The present invention diiiers from anything disclosed in the prior art in that there is both fluidization and rotation of the bed of solids. In addition, the pattern of circulation`or rotation diiers from that which occurs in the prior art apparatus. Speciiically, all of the above-identiiied patents disclosing beds in which there is circulation of the particles are concerned with what are known as spouted beds in which the solids are moved upwardly in a small spout in the center of the bed by the treating iluid and migrate downwardly in the remaining, major, outer portion of the bed. This contrasts ydirectly with the present invention in which, as mentioned above, the solids move upwardly in the peripheral regions of the bed and downwardly in its inner reaches. In other words, in the iiuidized rotating bed of the present invention, the particles of solids circulate in a manner directly opposite that to which they circulate in a spouted bed.

The iluidized rotating bed of the present invention has important advantages over both the iluidized and spouted beds of the prior art as was indicated previously. First, in the present invention, there is a materially more uniform treatment of the solids because of the continuous rapid turnover of the solids in the uidized rotating bed. In fluidized beds the solids are practically stagnant; and the treating fluid changes characteristics (for example, cools) as it passes upwardly through the bed. Consequently, the treatment given the solids in the upper part of the bed may vary widely from the treatment of the solids in the lower reaches of the bed; and different particles of the treated product may therefore have radically diiierent characteristics.

Solids treated by spouted bed techniques may also contain particles of widely varying characteristics because there is an extremely slow turnover of the solids due to the sluggish downward migration of the solids in all but the central spout of a spouted bed. This is because the area of the spout is necessarily very small in comparison to the total area of the bed. As the non-spouted areas of the bed contain a very large part of the solids and as the volume ofthe solids moving downward in the non-spouted part of the bed cannot exceed the volume of solids moving upwardly in the spout while maintaining the stability of the bed, the downward migration of the solids is neces# sarily very slow. Moreover, spouted beds are subject to short-circuiting, which even further increases non-uniformity of the treated product.

A second important advantage of the present invention is that it is much more versatile than anything heretofore known including apparatus utilizing iiuidized and spouted beds. For example, the reaction vessel may -be maintained at pressures varying from atmospheric pressure (or less than atmospheric pressure) to several hundred pounds per square inch without upsetting the uidization or rotation of the bed of solids. Similarly, for a given pressure, the mass rate of flow of the treating iuid can be varied over Wide limits without adversely affecting fluidization or rotation of the solids. Also, other parameters such as the composition and temperature of the treating fluid can be varied as desired for particular applications without adverse eiect.

A third advantage `of the present invention over fiuidized and spouted bed and other prior art techniques is that the solids treatment can be more accurately controlled because of the intimate and uniform uid-solids contact provided. This is extremely important in many, if not most, processes utilizing huid-solids contact.

A further advantage of the present invention in roasting and other applications Where the solids are heated by the treating fluid is that there is a substantially higher rate of heat transfer from the treating uid to the solids than in prior art apparatus because of the fluidized rotating bed and because the reaction vessel is pressurized. This mate-rially reduces processing time and, therefore, production costs. In addition, in many applications of the present invention, the decreased process time and pressurized iiuid treating environment reduce the loss of volatile constituents or otherwise beneficially affect the solids. Therefore, in many such applications, the techniques of the present invention provide a treated product which, in comparison to products -obtainable by prior art techniques, has materially improved quality or other improved characteristics. Analogously, the reduction in process time, treatment under pressure, and the versatility of the present invention provide materially higher yields in many applications of the invention, making the present invention more economcal than apparatus utilizing prior art techniques.

Another advantage of the present invention is that power requirements are minimized because there is only a small pressure drop (typically less than Ior slightly above 1.5% of the system pressure) in the treating fluid as it .passes through the reaction vessel.

Another important advantage of the present invention is that it can be readily employed where the particle size of the solids to be treated is too large to be fluidized in the conventional manner. As pointed out in the Gishler patent mentioned above, it is extremely diicult to iiuidize particles having a size greater than 20 mesh and entirely impracticable ot iiuidize particles as large as grains of wheat by conventional techniques. By employing the principles of the present invention, however, beds of much larger particles-coffee beans, for example-can be readily i-uidized and rotated.

The present invention also has a further advantage over spouted bed techniques in that a much larger bed of solids can be treated. As a practical matter, a spouted bed cannot be more than a few inches in diameter. As the width of the bed is increased, the diameter of the spout must be increased or the downward migration of the solids in the' non-spouted portions of the bed will be so sluggish as to render the process useless. However, the power required to produce spouting increases much more rapidly than spout diameter; and, if the diameter of the spout is greater than a very few inches, the power required to produce it in other than a shallow bed of no practical utility is economically impracticable. Also, spouts in extremely shallow beds or in beds more than a few inches in diameter are unstable. This factor makes it further impracticable to produce spouted beds which are sufficiently large for use on a commercial scale.

From the foregoing, it will be `apparent that further important objects of the present invention include the provision of novel improved duid-solids contact apparatus:

(l) which is applicable to a Wide variety of Iprocesses involving fluids-solids contact;

(2) in which the bed of solids to be treated is uidized and continuously rotated by the treating fluid;

(3) which is capable of producing a more uniform iinal product and/ or a higher quality product or one with better characteristics than has heretofore been obtainable;

(4) which is capable of producing a more rapid turnover of the particles bein-g treated than has heretofore been possible;

(5) which is more versatile than the prior art apparatus for producing fluid-solids contact;

(6) in which the treatment of the solids can be more accurately controlled than has heretofore been possible;

(7) which, when the solids are heated, provides a higher rate of heat transfer from the treating fluid to the solids than heretofore employed techniques;

(8) which materially reduc the time required to eiect a given treatment;

(9) which is capable of handling solids of larger particle size than the apparatus of the prior art; and

(10) in which it is practicable to treat a larger bed of solids than can be treated by spouted bed and similar prior art techniques. i

Another important specific obi-ject of this present invention is the provision of novel improved apparatus which incorporates the novel fluid-solids techniques discussed above and is particularly adapted lfor coffee roasting and similar applications.

Roasting coffee by employing the fluid-solids contact techniques described above has a number of advantages. These include increased yields and a roast which is more uniform, has a higher .percentage of extractibles (typically on the order of 10% higher), and a higher .percentage of total solids in the cup.

The advantage of increased yields and a more uniform roast are self-evident.

The higher percentages of total extractibles is of considerable economic importance in the manufacture of .instant coifee in that the yield of instant coffee from unroasted beans is a direct reection of the total extractibles in the roasted coffee. Therefore, use of the present invention decreases the cost of producing instant coffee.

The higher total solids content provided by the present invention is also important because the quality of brewed coffee is directly related to the total solids content of the roasted beans. Therefore, coiee roasted in the apparatus of the present invention makes a better cup of coifee than the same coiee roasted by other techniques.

Another extremely important advantage of the present invention in the roasting of coffee is that, because of its versatility and the close con-trol over the roasting process it provides, it materially reduces the loss of desirable volatiles and, at the same time, makes it possible to drive off undesirable volatile components from the beans. As a result, cheap low grade coffees roasted in accord with the present invention can -be upgraded to a quality equal to that of expensive beans roasted by the processes heretofore employed. Consequently, the present invention provides a material economic advantage over both the prior art processes for producing coffee for grinding and for producing instant coffee because the major cost factor in producing coiee of both types is the cost of the coffee itself.

Another important advantage of roasting coffee in accord with the principles of the present invention is that 

1. APPARATUS FOR TREATING PARTICULATE SOLIDS WITH A FLUID MEDIUM, COMPRISING: (A) A REACTION VESSEL CONFIGURED TO CONTAIN A BED OF THE PARTICULATE SOLIDS; (B) AN INLET AND AN OUTLET FOR INTRODUCING THE PARTICULATE SOLIDS INTO AND DISCHARGING THEM FROM THE REACTION VESSEL; AND (C) MEANS INCLUDING A CIRCULATION SYSTEM HAVING SUPPLY AND RETURN CONDUITS CONNECTED TO THE REACTION VESSEL FOR SO INTRODUCING A FLUID MEDIUM INTO SAID VESSEL, DIRECTING SAID MEDIUM THROUGH THE BED OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS CONTAINED THEREIN, AND DISCHARGING SAID MEDIUM FROM THE REACTION VESSEL AS TO EFFECT A CONTINUOUS RAPID CIRCULATION OF THE PARTICLES IN SAID VESSEL THROUGH PATHS IN WHICH SAID PARTICLES ARE MOVED UPWARDLY IN THE PERIPHERAL REGIONS OF THE REACTION VESSEL AND MIGRATE DOWNWARDLY IN INNER REGIONS THEREOF TO THEREBY BRING SAID PARTICLES INTO INTIMATE AND UNIFORM CONTACT WITH THE FLUID MEDIUM, SAID LAST-NAMED MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR: 